Bucks Girl's Transplant From Mother Goes Well Wait Begins To See If Marrow Beats Cancer

December 30, 1990|by MARY GAGNIER, The Morning Call

After rough moments earlier in the week, Traci Shearer's effort to give her 6-year-old daughter the gift of life went smoothly Friday night. By yesterday morning, mother and daughter were in good spirits.

Holli Shearer, the Upper Bucks girl suffering from a rare form of cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome, received a bone marrow transplant from her mother Friday at University of Iowa Hospital and Clinic.

The mother and daughter had traveled earlier this month from Richland Township to the hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, for the transplant procedure. Holli previously battled leukemia.

"We both are doing wonderful today," Traci Shearer, 29, said yesterday. "Holli's in good spirits."

Traci Shearer said she remembers falling asleep under general anesthesia at 7:30 a.m. Friday. Doctors then placed a series of 50 punctures into four areas of the front and back of her hips, she said. "So, needless to say, I was pretty sore yesterday," she said.

By yesterday, Shearer said, she still could see "little punctures into the skin." But she said, "It was worth every little poke that I had."

Doctors used an intravenous catheter, much like a blood transfusion, in Holli's upper chest for the three-hour transplant. Since then, Shearer said, her daughter was instructed to drink an ample supply of fluids, so "she's pounding down the juices."

Shearer said Holli generally feels well, but had adverse reactions to one of the numerous medications prescribed for her. The worst reaction, some bloody noses, was relieved last week with a blood transfusion, she said.

Holli also has had to undergo more frequent dental hygiene treatments because of persistent, irritating mouth sores, her mother said.

On the lighter side, Shearer said one of the medications gives her daughter crazy cravings for foods, especially chili and barbecued potato chips.

Doctors will watch Holli closely, Shearer said, and have scheduled biopsies Jan. 10 and 24 with marrow aspirations from Holli's lower back. Of particular concern, she said, will be the necessary formation of new white blood cells.

By Jan. 24, Shearer said, doctors will be able to determine "if my bone marrow is doing its job."

It will take at least a month to determine whether the transplant was a success, Shearer said. "We just have to sit back and let it do its thing," she said.

Also yesterday, a fund-raising organization called Friends for Holli received a check for $5,155 from Frank Piston of the Eastern Montgomery County branch of the Lutheran Brotherhood No. 8781.

Kass Fesi, media coordinator for Friends for Holli, said half the money was raised by comedian Marty Uhlman with a performance at the Comedy Cabaret in Doylestown. The Lutheran Brotherhood provided matching funds for the other half of the donation.

Friends for Holli, headquartered at Fretz, Gross and Spanninger ERA Realty office in Trumbauersville, also held drawings yesterday in a fund-raising raffle. ERA Realtor George Beck donated the grand prize, a week in Lake Placid, N.Y., to winner Lisa Empfield of Bethlehem.

Also, Mike Conroy of Philadelphia won 100 gallons of fuel oil donated by Johnson and Neubert in Quakertown. Bruce Conly of Warminster won a gift certificate from Clair's Flower Shop in Perkasie. Conly owns Yum Yum Donuts in Quakertown, Colmar and Warminster, which raised more than $2,000 for Friends for Holli.

ERA Realtors in the Perkasie and Trumbauersville offices have spent a considerable amount of time raising nearly $79,000 of a $250,000 goal, thanks to the cooperation of ERA Realty owner Tom Gross, Fesi said.

Contributions may be made out to Holli Shearer Bone Marrow Transplant Fund and addressed to either the Fretz, Gross and Spanninger ERA Realty office on E. Broad Street in Trumbauersville or to Meridian Bank in Quakertown.

Also, Holli has received numerous cards from Pennsylvania well-wishers. Mail should be addressed to Holli Shearer at University of Iowa Hospital and Clinic, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, 7RCE69.